Skype is a software system that allows users to make audio and video calls over the Internet. It supports conference calls, instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Skype uses a proprietary Internet telecommunication (VoIP) network that works on a peer-to-peer model.
Skype includes an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows other programs to interact with Skype. The Skype API supports three types of messages: 1) commands to control Skype, 2) directives—i.e. “out of band” commands that control the API itself, and 3) information messages that Skype sends about its status.
One of Skype's distinguishing features is that it can operate behind firewalls and Name Address Translation (NAT) routers. It achieves this by using super-nodes to relay calls between clients not directly connected to the Internet. Any Skype client can become a super-node if it connects to the Internet without NAT and/or an appropriate firewall, which means Skype can and does “borrow” bandwidth and computing power.
A disadvantage of such a “borrowing” feature is that the end-user has little control over the conditions or timing of such borrowing. Despite the existence of APIs to provide developers with programmability of such systems, tools are not available that enable end-users to take control of the telephony and chat facilities in a way that they can automate their various functions to allow end-user control of such features as the borrowing described above, or to allow automatic detection of and response to a variety of other telecommunications circumstances that might arise.
What is needed is a system that enables the end-user to simply and precisely define a set of telecommunications circumstances, such as any set of characteristics which apply to particular classes of voice calls or chat messages, and to define appropriate programmatic responses to relevant circumstances, to allow automatic detection of and response to a wide variety of such telecommunications circumstances, thereby expanding the usefulness of telecommunications systems.